High Stakes are for Tomatoes

Hal Harris | Tue, 08/01/2000 - 01:00

We all, and both candidates for President, agree that that our educational systems need to adhere to the highest standards of excellence, that "social promotion" in schools is a bad thing, that students should have to demonstrate basic competences before they receive high school diplomas, and that schools, teachers, and students ought to be rewarded or punished on the basis of judgements rendered via universal testing programs - right? Well, not necessarily. There is developing a significant backlash to the national and state standards movements, with their "high stakes" (and relentless) testing requirements. Peter Schrag describes dissident movements in states and school districts all over the country, and predicts that they will grow both in numbers and intensity.